Fertilizers

[zig]

Ok i hope all you people out there can help me

I just set up my first planted tank last night (after much hassle getting suitable fast growing plants) and its not a bad effort considering the limited plants available (my 5 year old likes it anyway.... , the tank contains a mixture of fast medium and some slow growers, with the emphasis on fast growers.

My set up is as follows

The tank is a brand new 35 uk gallon (42 us gallon)

For substrate im useing first layer laterite with a fine gravel

2x55 watt T5 6500k daylight tubes giving me 3 WPG

2xNutrafin co2 kits with DIY mix

Eheim 2215 external filter

Basically i realise that i now have to feed this baby and was wondering what other people are useing for fertilizer, im going to import this stuff online from the UK as i would have to probably visit every fish shop in Dublin to get what i want and even then i might not be successful (cant get a Kh test kit anywhere, ill get this online as well)

So if people could list what test kits are essential for plant care i would appreciate it.

And also what fertilizers have you had success with and what exactly do i need, brands etc

This will just make it easier for me to place an order online (all in 1 go as it were) and keep the postage costs down.

I hope to place the order in the next day or so, so all recommendations would be much appreciated.

There are no fish in the tank btw just plants for the moment as i realise i may be overdosing on the co2, but ive no way of checking that just yet.

All help appreciated............Thanks

 

[StarOrbs]

Right now I'm using Flourite tabs for my Swords and sags and Seachem Flourish for the others. They are starting to look a little better with it added now.

 

[houndour]

I put off the test kits for ages and I finally gave in and got a phosphate kit (mainly to check if these might be too high and causing algae problems) and a Iron test kit. I've found out that I've got ZERO iron in my tank and I think Iron is quite important to plants. So Jimbooo recommended...Kent Botanic FE which is available at aquatics online (mine is on its way). The reason I didn't really want to add fertilisers too much is cos my nitrates are OK and Phosphates are technically OK (According to the book), so by adding a fertiliser mix to get iron would mean adding the nutrients that I already have. So I'm gonna try just adding Iron for now.

It's all trial and error in the end I guess. There are just so many variables you just have to try one at a time.

 

[StarOrbs]

My phosphates are like .01 or somewhere around there heh. Very low.. My iron is around .2PPM seems go down about .1 every 5 days.

 

[George Farmer]

Sounds like the basis of a very good set-up there. Good lighting, CO2 and substrate, you should have great success.

Test kits I would recommend for a set-up like yours which should exhibit high nutrient uptake (plant growth) -

Ammonia and Nitrite (NH3/NH4 and NO2) - To ensure biological filtration is working.

Nitrate (NO3) - Ensure levels remain 5 to 20 ppm. You may need to dose KNO3 if and when your set-up really gets going (or you have low fish load).

Phosphate (PO4) - Ensure levels remain approx. 0.5 to 1 ppm. Tap water normally contains sufficient levels (if not too much).

pH - Vital to ensure suitable for fish kept and for measuring CO2 (with KH). Get a Low-Range kit as you will be injecting CO2 and your pH should be lowish (6 to 7.5)

KH - Ensure at least 50 ppm (3 dH) when injecting CO2 for sufficient buffering. Use regularly to measure CO2 (with pH).

GH - Ensure at least 50 ppm (3 dH) for sufficient Magnesium and Calcium levels.

Note - KH/GH normally in same kit.

Iron (Fe) - Try to keep levels 0.5 to 1 ppm. Although I don't use an iron kit personally. One can see deficiencies easily.

You can buy all these kits from here. I use the Nutrafin range and find them reasonably priced and accurate (source - Practical Fishkeeping Magazine reviews).

http/www.aquatics-online.co.uk/listsecti...tp=122&rets=246

Fertilisation is a complex subject so I will just go basic.

I would say the most important thing is to keep your CO2 as constant as possible and close to 25 to 30 ppm. I use 2 Nutrafin kits too and swap the mixtures alternately to help acheive a consistancy.

If and when your set-up exhibits fast growth then you will definitely need to fertilise. If it does "really well" then you may need to dose outside what is commonly available i.e. N, P and K (Nitrogen, Phosphorous and Potassium). These are the main macronutrients that are not found in commonly available commercial aquarium ferts.

N is dosed via KNO3 (Potassium Nitrate), P via KH2PO4 (Potassium Phosphate), and K via K2SO4 (Potassium Sulphate). You can buy these online too. I wouldn't worry about these yet though. Look up Tom Barr's Estimative Index for more info if you're interested - it makes fascinating reading and has changed my opinion totally on ferts.

Dosing Micronutrients is easy using many of the commonly available ferts. Personally I use the Dennerle range but these are expensive and availabilty is limited. I can recommend API Leaf Zone (this contains K as well as Fe), and Waterlife Tropiflora. Others may recommend or know of more good ferts. Seachem and the Kent Botanica range are well thought of as well. Tropica Mastergrow is also supposed to be excellent (although I have never seen it in the UK).

One quick point on ferts is that in a high-growth set-up if one nutrient goes deficient then algae may prevail, it is better to give too much nutrients as the plants can cope with this. They cannot cope as well with too little nutrients - algae can though.

I wish you success. Keep us posted.

 

[zig]

Brilliant gf exactly what i needed, i had a fair idea of what i might need but wasnt exactly sure, ive done a massive amount of research to set it up and running and at times it can be hard to take it all in, particularily the dosing amounts for the fertilizers.

Ive been reading the EI method almost daily to try and get a better grip on the situation as this is the method i will use, but as a novice it takes a while to sink in (for me anyway).

Ive been trying to source dry ferts to try and keep the costs down (more expensive initially but a lot cheaper in the long run) but heres the funny bit, ive managed to find out where i can get the Kno3 etc but they wont sell it to me unless i get a police permit, because some of this stuff can be used to make bombs (as im sure your aware with your background) so i have to go up to the police station and try and get a permit before i can blow up my tank and i bet the cops will probably call to my house to see my setup, to verify as it were, because they take it very seriously given the situation here with terrorists etc.

Anyway these are the lengths we have to go to in pursuit of perfection......

But i want to try and get it right ( im sure ill have issues algae etc and bore everybody with endless threads )

Anyway im in the process of building another tank this time a 4 footer and this will be planted as well so the experience ive gained so far (and mistakes) will go into this tank as well.

Thanks a mil for the advice, its exactly what i needed.

Much appreciated

 

[George Farmer]

Glad to help. Good luck with it all.